29/08/2017 World Business Report

Now it's time for World Business Report.

A warning to the Brexit negotiators: Britain is facing a significant

"brain drain" and manufacturers are worried.

Plus a juicy story from down-under - is Australia running out of oranges?

Hello, and a very warm welcome to World Business Report.

Also in the programme financial markets react

to the the North Korean missile launch - our team in Singapore

First of all, though, as the third round of Brexit

today, a major body representing UK manufacturers is warning Britain

is already facing a "brain drain" with skilled workers

from across Europe turning their backs on the country.

A survey released this morning by the EEF found that a quarter

of manufacturers have seen a decrease in applications from EU

Meanwhile, 16% have seen the number of EU nationals

actually leaving their business going up.

KPMG also released its own report this week.

It predicts one million EU nationals that currently work in the UK

With me is Tom Hadley, Director of Policy at the Recruitment

Good morning. From your perspective, how bad is this? We have been saying

for a while that this is the biggest challenge for our jobs market, the

demand of supply. Every month, recruitment agencies as saying they

are making more placements than in the month previously, but

availability has been declining since 2013. The difficulty is

finding enough staff. The concern for our members as if that is going

to get harder, and it appears that things are happening. People are

making decisions, now, do not come to the UK, or to leave it. The

challenge for the business committee is if it gets worse. Where are the

crisis points? One survey highlighted the manufacturing

sector. It cuts across. You have engineering, IT, financial services.

Some higher in parts of our financial market. But it cuts

across. Construction, one in three construction workers in London is

from the EU. Manufacturing is another. Care is another,

hospitality. It cuts across a range of sectors. What can be done while

the process is under way? It is extremely murky. We don't know what

the outcome will be. How do employers tackle the issue right now

when they are facing some, perhaps, leaving the organisation, or a lack

of supply? We are looking for some reassurance from government. Again,

we are looking to show EU workers that they have a future in the UK.

We have seen some progress in that and we would like to see more. We

would like a clear outline of what immigration strategy might look like

five years down the line. The other side is for employers, what they can

do now to prepare. And we need to start thinking that we will be less

workers from the EU, so how can we change recruitment procedures? Can

we use different schemes to bring people in? Part of our work at the

REC, is to look at what we can do to change a hiring the speeches while

still having cleared messages for the government. -- hiring

procedures. How confident are you about the Brexit process? We are

confident that the government is sad to see the importance of access to

skills from the EU. We are confident for the outlook for the UK jobs

market. There will be ups and downs. We have a vibrant and flexible job

market in the UK. At times of uncertainty, what might happen is

employers by using more temporary and contract staff as they see out

things pan out. We are at near full employment at the moment, which

makes things more tricky it terms of demand and supply? It does. 20% of

employers say that they could hire more in the next few months. If

countries want to grow, they need to hire more staff. It is partly

immigration policy, but also looking at how we can do things differently

in the business community, to attract the stuff of skills we need.

Thank you for your perspective on this, Tom. It is something we'll be

talking about in more detail later on the BBC. But let's talk about

global financial markets, now. Global markets have been rattled

by an escalation in tensions after the North Korean missile

launch we told you about earlier. Rico Hizon is in our

Asia Business Hub in Singapore. I am assuming it is all about flight

to safety? That is appositely right. Flight to save haven assets.

Investors are nervous. That is keeping the markets on edge in

midday trading. It is not only Asian stocks in negative territory. Wilson

have futures stocks in the red. Expect Wall Street to start lower

when they open for trade in about eight hours. The Nikkei two to five

is down to a four-month low. The South Korean index is the biggest

loser today. It led the declining list across the region. But safe

haven assets of benefited most. You have the Japanese yen gaining

against all major developed currency. The Swiss franc is

developing as well. The yen tends to benefit in times of geopolitical

financial stress, as it is the biggest creditor nation. There is a

thought that Japanese companies might repatriate funds if the crisis

should escalate. Gold is above $1320 an ounce. This is is highest level

since November nine last year. Investors are also rushing to the

safety of US Treasuries, pushing down the ten month yield to a

two-month low. Investors are also looking to how Donald Trump will

react to North Korea and to his push of reforms after Hurricane Harvey. A

lot of developments that investors are digesting today.

Let's talk about Australia and what is happening there.

Australia is - according to some companies -

in the grips of a national orange shortage.

Some drinks manufacturers are having to import from abroad

because there isn't enough home-grown fruit.

Huge demand for Australian oranges in China is one reason being given

Our correspondent, Hywel Griffith, has been to find out more.

Groan under the South Australian sun, these trees may look leaden

with oranges, but however fast they are picked, there is just not enough

to go around. Shoppers are being warned that they cannot expect that

used to be made with Australia and oranges, which is confusing, when

they seem to be plenty in the shops. -- grown under. When was the last

time you saw one of these? This morning. You don't know about the

shortage? No. I have a tree. You don't know about the shortage? So

what is going on? We can't accept any more orders for fruit. This man

says that growers have been hit with a perfect storm. Over the years,

production costs have gone up, and so few have been producing Valencia

oranges for juicing. But now there is a surge in demand for all of our

oranges, led by China. We are just another probably the worst six

months in my memory. And I have been in this since high school. We have

massive demand for even Valencia's, not just our navels, into Asia. They

were sucked up by Asia as well. We finished up doing something I never

thought we would do, importing container after container of whole

oranges, it juicing Valencia oranges, from Egypt, of all places.

Australia exports two thirds of the foodie grows. And China has become

its biggest, RS customer. After huge success exporting iron ore and coal

to China in the last decade, some argue that Australia should start

moving towards being a food bowl for Asia. Not just oranges, but apples,

grapes, and meat, too. Not that it is always an easy path to tread.

Last year, there was an import ban into China after questions were

raised over labelling. Some argue the best way forward is to

concentrate on the quality of exports, rather than the quantity.

We can offer something that they were to pay for. That means

consistent quality, and understanding were it is coming

from. Traceable back. What its origin is. It seems to me that

increasingly in food and wine markets, there is a story to tell.

When it comes to oranges, it is a trading success story which seems to

have put the squeeze on Australia supplies. Hywel Griffith, BBC News,

Adelaide. Now, let's look at some other

stories. many refineries have shut and almost

a fifth of oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been

suspended amid the largest storm to hit in the US in

more than a decade. The closures are expected to cause

a temporary spike in US gas prices. Analysts expect the economic impact

of the storm to surpass $40 billion, with direct losses of over $20

billion. On Monday, Amazon officially

took over Whole Foods. It's a deal that cost online

giant nearly $14 billion. And Monday was also the day

when the internet giant It slashed prices on popular items

like avocados and apples by a third as it bid to shake off

its reputation for high prices. But for competitors

like Walmart and Costco, the ecommerce giant's entry

is a source of concern. That is World Business Report. We

will be back in a moment to review some of the stories in the press. I

will see you then. Stay with us. More than half of those mis-sold

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